Car Tourismo Banner
Home » Regional » South Clare » Ennis-Limerick rail line remains closed
Flooding of the railway line at Ballycar.

Ennis-Limerick rail line remains closed


THE railway line between Limerick and Ennis will remain closed for six weeks, and potentially longer, due to flooding on the line at Ballycar.

Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail advised on Tuesday that instead bus transfers will operate between Limerick and Ennis, also serving Sixmilebridge, for the duration of the closure. Buses will depart all stations at the scheduled train time. Train services will, however, continue to operate as normal between Ennis and Galway.Ballycar3

The line has flooded following a significant increase in water levels at Ballycar Lough due to the recent sustained heavy rainfall, and the slow draining nature of the karst landscape in the area. Should the recent rainfall patterns persist, this will extend significantly the duration of the closure of the rail line. according to Iarnród Éireann.

Iarnród Éireann raised the track level by 60 centimetres at Ballycar in 2003 to mitigate against the effects of flooding. However, the current flood levels are at least 50 centimetres over the rail head and rising, resulting in the suspension of services since February 2.

 

About Colin McGann

Check Also

Council urged to ‘kick on’ with Killaloe clean-up efforts

EFFORTS to coordinate all of the agencies responsible for cleaning up Killaloe are ongoing, local …